After watching his team struggle mightily at the plate the last two nights, Davey Johnson has decided to try something new tonight. His starting lineup features the following: Steve Lombardozzi leading off and playing second base. Danny Espinosa sitting on the bench. Ian Desmond batting fifth. And Carlos Maldonado making his first start behind the plate.

Hey, at this point, why not try something new? The move of Desmond down to the 5-hole is actually most intriguing to me, because it's the first time he's hit anywhere but the leadoff spot this year. Desmond, though, does bring some pop to the plate. He's second among NL shortstops with a .451 slugging percentage. And he's second among all major-league shortstops with six homers.

Ross Detwiler takes the mound for his eighth start of the season. At the same time in Toledo, Chien-Ming Wang will be making another rehab start for Class AAA Syracuse. Keep an eye on how both pitchers perform.

A friendly reminder that tonight's game is being televised on Fox, with Bob Carpenter and Bill Ripken on the call. Live updates to come here, so please check back…

Wow, that's a pretty big change … looks like Davey has seen enough. You can watch Chien Ming Wang who isn't even pitching as well as another guy on the 40-man (but who has options) Yunesky Maya. Yes, that's a huge surprise.Sure seems like the Chiefs have found their bats even without BHarp34 and T_Mo12. Led by Corey Brown. Brown might be the one to watch.

Wow, this was the popular lineup written up over a month ago. About time Espinosa sat/benched. Maybe Davey is sending a message although he is old school so he will just say Espi is getting a mental day. Here is Lombo's opportunity

So this means no pregame show? And I suppose now there will be a sudden and drastic change in each and every hitter's performance? I am glad to see Lombardozzi hitting lead off – I think his skill set makes it a good fit. I don't care in what order they hit – Zim needs to heat up, Ankiel – well, whatever, and you can't replace Morse, Werth and Ramos – you just can't. Let's see who steps up tonight. Go Nats – the O's are getting cocky.

Tom in AR said… I am excited for this lineup. Wish it had Morse, Werth and Ramos in it. Good luck to Maldonado. Really hoping he makes it through the game. May 19, 2012 4:14 PM ____________________________My appreciation for Ramos has gone up tremendously. He was one of the Nats hottest hitters the week before he was injured. Game Winning single, 2 HRs, etc. Flores looks thin and lost a lot of muscle mass. I'm sure the move to Maldanado is to give Flores a rest but this is how opportunities are made.

Reds held on. By the way – do you realize that in the NL and AL east every team ( except boston) is above 500? Not so in the nl and al central where only the top team is above 500. Think we are in for a tough schedule folks?? It's a steady diet of winning teams for us – hang on.

Gonat, I've been watching! It's astonishing to me Dusty considers Marshall his "closer" given the vastly superior alternatives available to him. Aroldis Chapman is a beast. One more out to go for Arredondo.

GYFNG!!!FP if you are reading this. Leave a glass of Nats koolaid for Billy!Glad to see the new line up . It will work! Fingers are crossed. I will be at the game tonight. Stay Positive Insiders! I have a good feeling about tonight!

Flores looks thin and lost a lot of muscle mass. I'm sure the move to Maldanado is to give Flores a rest but this is how opportunities are made.No, Ramos and Maldonado look fat. Ramos especially, since he's still so young. Stand Flores up next to other good catchers like Weiters and Posey, and he looks fine. Excessive muscle mass is a detriment for a catcher, since it limits his mobility and maneuverability behind the plate. Perhaps Ramos's muscle mass helps his power at bat, but truthfully he could stand to lose 20-30 pounds. That would make him better on both sides of the ball.

Votto crushed a 3 run bomb against the NY Evil Empire and McCutcheon is crushing it , too. See – it's not just the nats – we are not alone. As to the catchers — Posey doesn't look very big for a catcher and seems quite athletic. His recovery and resurgence has been nothing short of amazing when you remember what happened to him.It does seem like all of our guys that have an injury and rehab come back in better shape than they were initially. I am pretty sure that ramos won't play winter league again, either. I predict that next spring training he arrives looking like a stud.

I know I'm almost certainly letting wishful thinking make more if this than is probably there, but I wonder if Davey's "more than likely" statent about Espi being back in the lineup tomorrow still might allow for Lombo to lead off and play LF if he does well at the plate today. Mixed feelings about that as his arm is a downgrade from almost anyone else we can put put there, but the need for high OBP out of #1 — and the probable value of having Desi's slugging % n #6 — makes it something for us to speculate about aimlessly. Lombo also does much better at the plate when he's starting than PHing.

I'm not into lineup kibbitzing but I will say this: Go, NATS!! And I'll throw in a Go, Buster!! for my late brother's fave Giant.Not sure how the blackouts work, Eugene, but it's a national Fox broadcast.

Above all – I want to see some Natitude out there. RossD pitches the best when he has some swagger going on. Despite the injury losses and sparse offense, these guys can play with anyone. Do it, Nats!!!!

It was definitely time to give lineup a bit of a shake. Ian has been one of our best clutch hitters, so the five spot seems lie a good fit. Glad to see bam bam batting second, Roger hasn't done much for us in that spot. Also, I suspect this is a regional Fox broadcast. Their national booth pairing is Buck and McCarver.

And now a word about the lineup change: Hallelujah!Adam LaRoche and Ian Desmond have 18 extra-base hits each. LaRoche has 30 RBIs. Desmond has only 16.Lombo's on base percentage is .400 and Ian's is something like .294.Moving Lombo up and moving Desmond down to a run-producing spot (where he's following the team's hottest hitter, instead of the pitcher) makes perfect sense. Bravo! Now GYFNG!!!

Thanks all. I'm hopeful that means no blackout on MLB.tv.On the MASN contract question, let me stipulate that I continue to worry that the Nats will get shafted. But if Mr. Boswell is correct and the arbitration panel — given its make-up and apparent self-interest — comes up with a fair, market-based number, the Nats could well end doing better than any of us originally anticipated. Why? If I'm reading these stories correctly, the periodic 'resets' will take place about every fifth year. Thus, the Nats should get the benefit of the most-recent comps, which seem to be ever rising, more often than other teams. The Braves, for example, are approaching the end of a 20-year deal that looked good in the '90s, but seems like a pittance now. On the other hand, the Rangers and Angels just signed 20 (or so) year deals that look obscenely rich now, but may be seen as bargains in the second half of those long contracts. If the Nats really do get 'current market value' from the panel and then get to 'reset' again in five years, and five years after that, and five years after that, etc., they could end up with a better '20-year deal' than anyone else. In fact — and this may be wishful thinking, I admit — it could be so good (let's hope) that Mr. Angelos feels compelled to get out of it by selling the rights back to the Nats.

I just feel that our hitters need to make the opposing pitcher work a little harder. Seems like the top half, with Detweiler , really took some time – they made him work for every out. Our hitters were gone in a flash. They look like easy outs – quick little grounders. I have also noticed that a lot of our hitters lately have been making outs on pop fouls.

Lets see. First the O's sacrafice twice in an inning and both runners score. We of course extend an inning with a walk and the walk scored. (wlaking 8th place batter is totally senseless)>Now lets look at the bombers. Desi swings at one in the dirt, it gets away and he doesn't even bother to run, replay shows it wasn't even close to being hit. Why try to fake that. Then Ankeil takes a third strike at swinging and missing earlier.Eck is not the hitting coach I learned last night. he is just advisor. We need someone to put a fire under their rears and coach, not advise, as the advise has been terrible or not accepted.

I hate being a fan of a team that strikes out as much as we do. Desmond waves at a ball that bounces infront of the plate and Ankiel stares at strikes. You have to feel for the pitchers because they have to be perfect every night.

Hi, everybody!!! FWIW… I feel GOOD!!! Spent the afternoon simmering the first batch of chili I've made in over 3 years… FABULOUS!!! Enjoying a rare opportunity to watch on TV…. Settle down Det… Like the lineup tonight… Be nice to win a high scoring one, for a change.GYFNG!!!!!!

While that third trike to Ankiel was actually a ball, it was really the HP ump trying to do the Nats a favor. he was saying, "if this guy doesn't even try to protect the plate on a close pitch on a 1-2 count, he deserves to get punched out. And he does.Well, I hope this game is "so much for Davey's attempt to encourage Det by saying he keeps his spot in the rotation when Wang gets back.". I like Det's effort but where is his game plan against a bunch of fastball hitters? Five hits and two runs with 21/3 innings? His last start wasn't too hot either. And I wrote that before Jones tagged him. He belongs back in the pen.

Hard to like a lineup that has 10-14 k's in it per night.Bernie cant hitAnkiel is a perpetual .235 guyHarper is a rookie who swings for the fences on every swing, pulls out — and is striking out too much.Zim: swinging through center but fastballsNot good

I love the Nats, but Prediction –NEXT STOP. .500 BASEBALL. No doubt about it. This team is plummeting. No hitting, weak managing, average defense, and pitchers coming back to the pack while losing their confidence (due in part to NO hitting) and a closer that is completely crazy.A serious losing streak in upon us.

I hate this style of coverage with the long interviews. They don't even notice the game half the time. Billy made a good point, though, about our pitchers adjusting to all the different catchers.Four in a week.makes you wonder. Nice quick inning. Now some offense?

OK, the Nats have no hits. Lombo isn't working the count.The Nats have scored 5 runs in just 11 of their 39 games.There must be a decent flick on one of these channels.(Well, maybe I'll wait till Harper hits.)

Personally, Ankiel is one of my favorite players, but we can't win a pennant with him in the lineup. Simple as that.Ankiel and Bernadina in the same outfield — combined with a talented but very raw rookie? no pennant there.

Getting shelled. Our outfield should be morse, Harper, Werth . Bernie and ankiel are supposed to be good defenders but are not. This is not our team . Bernie, ankiel, lombo, catcher-half this lineup should not be out there. They are all second stringers and It is showing. Even the guys who were doing ok are off their games. Sad to watch.

If you are not a true fan you are apathetic. You get the maddest at those you love. I am pretty mad right now. Billy Ripken not being hard on Ross. Doesn't think he pitched badly. O's hitters just on fire right now. He is a very fair announcer considering his history with the o's.

I didn't realize the Orioles were this good. Didn't see that coming for another decade or so.And, Unkyd, Gio. Awesome as the Morse beam is, Gio. Gio over Jose Reyes, too. Until I saw Gio, his was the megawatt MLB smile for me.Okay! We are on tne board! That's something.

I am thinking maybe we see Lombo tomorrow, too.I think there are lots of legitimate things to notice in a baseball team, NatsFanJim.. And joy on the field, love of the game and a great smile go high on my list. Don't even get us started on sme of the other things some of us notice. They stand out on that field a long time. I'm just sayin'.

I am thinking that this is too little, too late. In April, 4 runs would have won TWO games! I know I said this before but it bears repeating. Our 9 player line up consists of a pitcher, 3 bench players and a triple A catcher, catcher number 4 in a week for the pitchers. Granted, some of those guys hit in the sixth, but they are still not the First String. It's going to be a long season and this last week has not been our very best time. Glad to see their never-say-die natitude is alive and well. If they can just hang on and fight through this swoon….

As frustrated as I get with this team wasting amazing pitching, it's still a long way to the end of the season, but not that long until we get a key player back -Morse. Then Storen, then Werth. Even Leon will be back , for what that's worth. So, if we can hang on, maybe play .500 ball through June, maybe bring on a hitting instructor to help Eck teach the things he doesn't understand, or help the students grasp what Eck is trying to teach ( sorry, coudn't resist), we will be OK. But losing two to B'more will hurt. Fan anger will be high.

Ah well — makes the failure to bring Desi home in the 8th all the more costly.The point about Gio's smile is that the personality behind it is a phenomenal asset to team chemistry. Lapparently "smile" alone was overly subtle for some.Along with the sexism — thanks, ehay2k — anyone who thinks "Riggleman is starting to look good"(@8:21) has other issues.

Thanks to ehay and Steady Eddie for standing up for JaneB, who was only answering a question from another (and male, btw) poster. What is this, Ballpark Guys or NatsInsider? 😉 Speaking of which, I agree with my esteemed colleagues MicheleS and JaneB: it's Gio.Thanks for sharing re. FP's tweet, MicheleS.On a game note, was really disappointed to lose a series, particularly to the O's. That said, as I remarked to my hubby afterwards, I didn't find this loss as frustrating as Friday's. I liked that the team almost came back from the deep hole into which Det put them. I liked that the bullpen, including Henry, held the O's down the rest of the way. I liked that Zimm's bat may be heating up.